Rehabilitation for Stroke

What is rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is the process of helping an individual achieve the highest level of independence and quality of life possible — physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Rehabilitation helps restore the individual to optimal health, functioning, and well-being. Rehabilitate (from the Latin "habilitas") means "to make able again."

The stroke rehabilitation team

The stroke rehabilitation team revolves around the patient and family. The team helps set short- and long-term treatment goals for recovery and is made up of many skilled professionals, including the following:

Doctors, such as a neurologist (a doctor who treats conditions of the nervous system such as stroke) and physiatrist (a doctor who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation)

Internists

Other specialty doctors

Critical care nurses

Rehabilitation specialists

Physical therapists

Occupational therapists

Speech and language pathologists

Registered dietitians

Social workers and chaplains

Psychologists, neuropsychologists, and psychiatrists

Case managers

The stroke rehabilitation program

The outlook for stroke patients today is more hopeful than ever due to advances in both stroke treatment and rehabilitation. Stroke rehabilitation works best when the patient, family, and rehabilitation staff works together as a team. Family members must learn about impairments and disabilities caused by the stroke and how to help the patient achieve optimal function again.

Rehabilitation medicine is designed to meet each person's specific needs; thus, each program is different. Some general treatment components for stroke rehabilitation programs include the following:

Treating the basic disease and preventing complications

Treating the disability and improving function

Providing adaptive tools and altering the environment

Teaching the patient and family and helping them adapt to lifestyle changes

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, in general, there are five types of disabilities that stroke can cause: paralysis or problems controlling movement, such as walking or balance and/or swallowing; sensory (ability to feel touch, pain, temperature, or position) disturbances; difficulty using or understanding language; thinking and memory problems, and emotional disturbances. Stroke rehabilitation can help you recover from the effects of stroke, relearn skills, and develop new ways to perform tasks. The type and extent of rehabilitation goals depend on many variables, including the following:

The cause, location, and severity of stroke

The type and degree of any impairments and disabilities from the stroke

The overall health of the patient

Family and community support

Areas covered in stroke rehabilitation programs may include the following: